Basement Medicine

So second-semester senior year does exist, and it’s scarier than I anticipated. I remember how excited I was months before my high school graduation, but this is much different.
Four years ago, I didn’t know where I was going to college, but I knew I was going somewhere. That may have...

As I sat in front of my computer, mentally flipping through the many subjects I could write this editorial on, I found myself getting more and more bummed about all the things in the world that seem to be going wrong. So today, in both message and action, I’m taking a break.
I’m not going...

One at a time, incremental steps are moving us toward the Johnson/Lyndon unification. The administration and faculty are getting ready, but are we — the students — ready?
Views on the unification have been a mixed bag since the beginning, with the staff and faculty tending toward more...

The Super Bowl is undeniably a staple of American culture. While I am definitely not a football fan (I will freely admit that I spent the day watching “The Hobbit” instead), it would be remiss of me to ignore the controversy surrounding this year’s round of Super Bowl commercials.
In...

2017: The year we’ve all been waiting for.
With this new year comes a peaceful transition of power in the Basement Medicine editorship. I only hope that I can do the title justice.
Many people agree that 2016 could have gone better. Brexit, the refugee crisis, the entire United States presidential...

My name is Brittney Malik. I am a sophomore here at Johnson State. I grew up in Randolph, a small town right in the middle of Vermont. A town with many dirt roads and fancy old houses. A town with tons of family owned farms and locally owned businesses. A town with a population of almost five thousand...

The unification of Johnson and Lyndon — soon to be Northern Vermont University — is now well underway. Over the course of this semester, Basement Medicine has explored various aspects of the process: the administration’s initial exploration of the idea, the perspective of the advisory committee,...

It is that time of year again: shopping for that perfect gift to please your children, family members, friends or loved ones. And what is a better gift than an adorable fluffy animal?
Throughout the year, different animals are given as gifts, mostly to children, for a variety of holidays such...

We would like to take a moment out of everyone’s busy schedule to acknowledge the wonderful group of people that make up Sodexo on the JSC campus. If it was not for them and their commitment to our community and beyond, we would not have been able to host our second annual Veteran’s Day Dinner.
This...

Two Johnson State College Student Government Association members have been elected to positions on the Vermont State College Student Association (VSCSA). SGA President Shavonna Bent has been elected to serve as president of the VSCSA and Shelby Rosten, treasurer for the JSC SGA, has been elected to be...

As I sit here writing my final editorial for Basement Medicine, a sense of dread creeps slowly up my spine. It has been a month since the presidential election, and I feel no shame in admitting that I am afraid of what the future holds, both for this country and for the world at large.
We...

This election cycle has me feeling unappeased and itchy, as if I am in hibernation mode or about to have a mental break. Oh, you too? Statistics show that this election year could be psychologically damaging to many and has many feeling anxiety ridden.
Dear reader: In case you have been on...

The Johnson State College Student Government Association will be hosting a flag raising ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. to celebrate the installation of two new flag poles. The flag poles will be designated for flags that represent social justice movements or groups of individuals who may not...

Donald Trump was just elected president of the United States of America.
I’ll admit it: this caught me off-guard. Finally I know what it felt like to be a UK citizen when the voters there decided to leave the EU, catching all the pollsters and establishment politicians with their pants down.
While...

Author’s note: I refer to these demonstrators as “protectors” not “protestors” because of their continued fight for the right to clean water and their struggles to protect the environment we all rely upon.
Right now, the largest Native American protest in history is occurring. Protectors...

The third presidential debate of the 2016 campaign has now passed, giving the American public a final look at how little respect this year’s candidates have for each other.
The JSC Student Government Association hosted a debate viewing in the Stearns cinema. When the candidates stepped onto...

Like many other people, my reaction to AT&T’s plan to acquire Time Warner wasn’t exactly shock. Certainly I view the concentration of media and the media infrastructure into fewer and fewer hands as a negative trend. Of course. It’s just that the media oligopoly seems so... normal.
It’s...

Tick... Tock... The big clock counts down the last days of the 2016 U.S. presidential election — the world’s greatest spectator sport.
Given that the U.S. president remains the most powerful figure on planet earth, every election cycle is, understandably, an exciting affair. But it’s never been...

Overwhelming threats of violence and personal safety makes it hard to want to leave the house, right? As a young adult, I dread what will happen day to day, especially since violence and drug addiction are on the rise in Vermont and all over the U.S.
Just last week Burlington City Police evacuated...

First thing first, where does the money for the SGA budget come from? We are funded through the student activity fee. Because of this, we try to make sure each dollar we spend will have a direct positive impact on campus and the student body. The following is a break down of each of our line items and...

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t heard of the recent Brock Turner case. Just in case, by some chance, you have no idea who Brock Turner is, here’s the run-down: He sexually assaulted an unconscious girl behind a dumpster back in January 2015. He went to trial and was convicted of...

Note from the editor: This is a work of satire. May your jimmies be forever rustled.
Unification. This one word has been sending excitement through the campuses of Johnson and Lyndon State colleges. With the Vermont State College Board of Trustees finally voting on Sept. 29, many people deeply...

With Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” playing in theaters, Edward Snowden is once again a popular topic for the news media. Prominent public figures like Bernie Sanders and news outlets like The New York Times are calling for Snowden to be allowed to return home. How come?
By this time, I would imagine...

As a tuition-paying student of one of the Vermont State Colleges — and having spent a great deal of time these past two weeks thinking about the coming merger between Johnson and Lyndon — I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the Vermont legislature.
It’s upsetting, though unsurprising,...

Before I talk about the looming opportunity that is the unification between Lyndon and Johnson, I should probably start by telling you a bit about myself. My name is Benjamin Simone and I am a senior at Johnson State College. I am also the former student trustee to the VSC, former co-chair of the Vermont...

Johnson State College Student Government Association (SGA) is kicking off a two-week campaign to communicate with the Johnson State College students and learn about their concerns with campus life at the college. The campaign is called “99 Problems and You Can Fix One.”
The goal of the...

Another year is soon behind us. Time seems to accelerate, and it’s hard to believe we’re at the end of another semester. Tempus fugit indeed.
Allow me a moment of reflection. With only the fall ‘16 semester remaining for me, I’ve really enjoyed my time here at JSC. Thank you students. Thank...

For years the gender narrative has read that only men can be leaders. This is the same across all professions, from business to government. Though this is changing, it is not changing fast enough, and women are still holding back instead of leaping towards professional leadership roles.
The narrative...

I stand with Jay.
For approximately the past eight years, Jay Peak Resort has been involved with the United States EB-5 program. This is where foreign investors spend half a million dollars each in exchange for green cards and eventual citizenship in the United States.
This programs involvement...

I recently read an extraordinary article entitled “I am on the Kill List. This is what it feels like to be hunted by drones.” It was published in The Independent, a British newspaper, and was written by an Afghan man named Malik Jalal, who claims to be on a drone-strike “Kill List.”
I liked...